Police station set on fire after riot breaks out in Sunderland in wake of Southport stabbings

A riot broke out and a police station was set on fire in Sunderland in the wake of the Southport stabbings. Hundreds of people gathered in Sunderland for a protest, with a large police presence in the city centre.

It comes after unrest in Southport, Hartlepool, Manchester and London, after three young girls were killed in the knife attack at a Taylor Swift event at a dance school in the Merseyside town.

The victims have been named as Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven. Eight other children suffered knife wounds, five of whom are in a critical condition. Two adults were also critically injured. Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news

Axel Rudakubana, 17, from Banks in Lancashire - who was born in Cardiff - has been charged with the murders of the three young girls. He has also been charged with the attempted murder of two adults, the attempted murder of the eight children and possession of a bladed article - a curved kitchen knife.

In the aftermath of the killings, violent unrest broke out across the country, starting in Southport itself on Tuesday, with Merseyside Police saying it believed supporters of the English Defence League were behind the demonstration. More than 100 people were arrested following a riot on Whitehall on Wednesday, while seven people have appeared at Teesside Magistrates' Court charged with violent disorder in Hartlepool.

The protests have seen police officers injured, police vans set alight and mosques attacked. On Thursday, the Prime Minister condemned those behind the riots as a "tiny mindless minority" and said they were driven by "far right hatred".

Follow our live updates on the latest riot in Sunderland below: